Russian tourists in Turkey to increase 20 pct with visa-free travel

Turkey expects to draw more Russian tourists this year by as high as 20 percent with the onset of a new visa-free travel regime between the two countries, said Cumhur Güven Taşbaşı, director of promotion at the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

The visa liberalization agreement, which was signed during Russian President Dmitry Medvedev's visit to Ankara in May 2010 became valid April 16. Earlier this year, officials from the two countries signed a readmission agreement to take a step forward for implementing a visa-free regime that allows for 30 days of visa-free travel within a 90-day period.

Noting that January, February and March were the low-season months for tourists from Russia, Taşbaşı said, "A nice increase was observed this year. The bookings for the summer have also increased by 20 percent already."

Still, accommodation demands for longer periods are causing some problems, the official said. "Some heavy procedures are launched for those who demand longer than two months. People who want to work somewhere [in Turkey], trade or stay at their summer houses are facing some difficulties in their visa applications. There are some long queues," he said.

Admitting that the number of tourists from Syria has fallen upon the political unrest in this country, Taşbaşı said, "As the visa procedures were lifted between Turkey and Syria last year, our traffic from this country increased seriously. It is normal that the number of visitors has fallen upon the turmoil. This will end when everything returns to normal."


/Hurriyet Daily News/